Oiler



R. FRICK.

OILER.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 29. I920.

Patented May10,1921.

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UNITED STATES PATENTFOFFICE.

ROBERT ERICK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

01min.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT F RIcK,.a citi- .zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Oilers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto oilers, more particularly of the type adapted for use on motor vehicles. Road vehicles, for which my device is especially applicable, are, of

course, subjected to more or less vibration,

especially in the case of motor trucks, and it is my purpose to take advantage of this vibration to feed oil to the bearings or other parts to be lubricated. In connection with this general object it is my purpose to render the device simple in form and reliable in operation.

I accomplish my objects by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a slde elevation of the complete -oiler,

a Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view taken from the side and showing certain portions/ broken away to reveal the parts within. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View, similar'to Fig. 2 but showing the moving parts in changed position.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

In the illustrated form the device has a reservoir 1, provided with a filler cap 2.

- At the bottom is a threaded nipple 3 having 7 v a central discharge passage 4 through which the oil may descend by gravity to the bearing to be lubricated. Vithin the reservoir is a flat bottom surface 6 surrounding the discharge passage, said surface forming a seat for a valve 8 and a thimble 9 in which the valve is inclosed. The thimble is considerably taller than the valve, and the valve is freely slidable within it. In other words, when the valve and thimble are both seated the valve may rise an appreciable distance from the seat without engaging the top off the thimble, but continued rising of the valve will cause it to engage and lift the thimble from its seat and thus uncover the discharge passage Valve 8 is rigidly fastened to a stem 12 which passes up through the top of the Specification of Letters Patent.

thimble, making a sliding fit therewith. At the lower end this stem is provided with fins Patented May 10, 1921. Application filed March 29, 1920. Serial No. 369,645. I

14 for guiding it in the discharge passage 4 without obstructing the downward flow through said passage. Differently stated, the lower end of the stem projects into the discharge passage, but is of a smaller diameter so as; to permit downward flow of oil between-the stem andthe walls of the passage, the stem being guided by fins 14 which slide upon the walls of the passage.

At its upper end stem 12 is fastened to a weight 16. This weight is so formed as to beguided by the walls of the reservoir 1, and yet not obstruct the reservoir or in any manner prevent the free ,fiow of oil up and down in the reservoir past said weight. In the specific design illustrated, said weight is in the form of a triangle, the corners of which are rounded, and approach without necessarily engaging the walls of the reservoir. A light helical compression spring 17 encircles the stem 12 between the topof the thimble 9 and the bottom .of the weight 16..

In practice, when the vehicle is standing still, both the valve 8 and thimble 9 will rest upon the seat 6 and thus cover the discharge passage 4 and prevent oil from flowing down to the bearings. When the vehicle is under way, however, it will naturally have a certain amount of vibration. This vibration will create a tendency for the weight 16 to ride up and down, the effect being produced partly by the inertia of the weight itself, and partly by the action of the spring 17; for the spring rests upon the top of the thimble. ment of the weight will not disturb the thimble until the valve 8 rises high enough to lift the thimble off its seat. The parts are so proportioned that the cap 2 will limit the upwardmovement of the stem 12 and thus limit the upward movement of the thimble and permit it to admit only a small amount of oil past its lower rim. See Fig. 4. As soon as the movable parts commence to move downward, the first thin which occurs is the seating of the thimble, thus confining within it the oil that has just been admitted from the reservoir. The continued downward movement ofv thevalve will, thereupon, force the admitted oil down through the discharge passage. It will be understood that the valve, while freely mov- 90-,- The upward movev the thimble may be regarded as a movable cylinder having a plunger adapted to travel I within it, the cylinder also acting as a pri- I as mary valve to admita small quantityof oil, and the plunger serving -to force the oil down through the discharge passage. It will also be observed that my device automatically accommodates itself to oil requirements in the bearings. When the vehicle is standing still it naturally requires no oil in the bearings, and with my device no oil will be delivered, simply because there is no vibration occurring capable of producing movement of the operating parts. With a light load on a good roadway, the demands for oil will be light and the movement of the parts will be correspondingly light, thus producing a correspondingly small delivery of oil. With a heavily loaded vehicle traveling rapidly or upon a rough road, the demands for oil will be great and the movement of the parts will be correspondingly great and a maximum supply of oil delivered to the bearings. The device is consequently automatic in this sense, and yet its moving parts are not power driven, nor do they require any positive connection to any of the power driven parts of the vehicle. The forms of the parts are so simple that there is nothing to get out of order, and as torturous passages are avoided, there is practically no possibility of the parts becoming clogged.

According to the illustrated arrangement in which the spring 17 engages the thimble or cylinder 9 at the lower end, and the weight 16 at the upper end, the spring serves a double purpose, first, to effect a quick seating'of the part 9, and second, as a lifter for the weight 16. Under ordinary circumstances the spring will be so light that the weight of the stem and parts attached thereto will overcome the spring and permit the part 8 to remain seated, but when the vibration tends to raise the stem and associated parts, the spring accelerates the movement.

' Consequently, while the part 8 normally remains seated, it may be readily caused to rise. The weight does not entirely float upon the spring, but the spring partially counterbalances the force of gravity.

Viewed in still another light, the thimble or cylinder 9 with its inclosed valve or plunger, may be regarded as a pump in which both the cylinder and the plunger are movable, the plunger producing the movement of the cylinder and the vibration of the reservoir producing the movement of the plunger, the plunger being rendered especially sensitive to the effects of.the vibrations by-the counterbalance spring.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An oiler having a reservoir provided with a discharge passage, a thimble for covering said passage, a valve within said thimble, also adapted to cover said passage, and adapted to vmove the thimble to open position, there being lost motion between the valve and the thimble whereby the valve may recede from its seat an appreciable distance before moving the thimble from its seat, and a weighted element connected to said valve for actuating it, said weighted element being movable with respect to the reservoir whereby vibration of the reservoir will produce relative movement between the reservoir and the weighted element and' thereby cause the valve to be actuated.

2. An oiler having a reservoir with a discharge passage leading downward from the bottom of it, an open ended cylinder fitting face downward over said discharge passage, a plunger slidable within said cylinder, and means for causing said plunger to travel within the cylinder, the travel of the plunger being suflicient to raise the cylinder when the plunger is at the upper end of its travel.

3. An oiler having a reservoir with a discharge passage leading downward from the bottom of it, an open ended cylinder fitting face downward over said discharge passage,

a plunger slidable within said cylinder, a

:and extending up through the otherwise closed top of the cylinder, and means con nected to the stem above the cylinder for causing vertical movement of the plunger within the cylinder, said means being adapted to raise the plunger high enough to lift the cylinder off its seat to thereby permit the oil to enter the lower end of the cylinder.

5. An oiler having a reservoir with a discharge duct leading out of the bottom, an

"open ended cylinderarranged verticall and having its open end covering the disc arge duct, a plunger fitting slidably within said cylinder, a stem fastened to the plunger and extending up through the otherwise closed top of the cylinder, a weight fastened to the stem above the cylinder, and a cap on der, means for vertically reciprocating said plunger and causing it to rise sufliciently to raise the cylinder ofl its seat, and a spring adapted to urge the cylinder downward for effecting quick seating thereof.

7. An oiler having a reservoir with an opening at the bottom, an open ended cylinder arranged with its open end downward and seating on the bottom of the reservoir around said opening, a vertically movable plunger fitting slidably within said cylinder, a stem passing up through the otherwise closed end of the cylinder, a weight fastened to said stem above the cylinder, and

I a helical compression spring interposed between said weight and said cylinder.

8. An oiler having a reservoir with an opening at the bottom, an open ended cylinder arranged with its openend downward and seating on the bottom of the reservoir around said opening, a vertically movable plunger fitting slidably withinsaid cylinder, a stem passing up through the upper, closed end of the cylinder, the stem being slidable relatively to the cylinder, meansfastened to the stem above the cylinder for reciprocating said stem, sai-d stem also projecting downward'into the opening at the bottom of the reservoir, and means for guiding said stem within said opening.

9. An oiler having a reservoir with an opening at the bottom, an open ended cylinder arranged with its open end downward and seating on the bottom of the reservoir around said opening, a vertically movable plunger fitting slidably within said cylinder, and adapted to seat on the bottom of said reservoir and close said opening, and means for vertically reciprocating said plunger, the plunger when in the uppermost positionof its travel lifting the cylinder ofii' its seat.

10. An oiler having a reservoir with an opening at the bottom, an open ended cylinder arranged with its open end downward and seating on the bottom of the reservoir around said opening, a vertically movable plunger located within said cylinder, and adapted to seat on the bottom of said reservoir and close said opening, a stem passing up through the otherwise closed end of the cylinder and being slidable with respect to the cylinder, a weight fastenedto the stem above the cylinder, said weight having an area less than the area of the reservoir, but having a plurality of points adapted to cooperate with the inner surface of the reservoir for guiding the weight vertically.

11. An oiler having a reservoir with a discharge opening at the bottom and means for forcing oil out through said opening, said means comprising a cylinder open at the bottom with itsrim seating upon the bottom of the reservoir around said discharge opening,

a plunger within said cylinder, a stem pass- 1 ing up through the otherwise closed end of the cylinder, a weighted element fastened to the stem above the cylinder, and a counterbalance spring for carrying some of the weight of said weighted element, the plunger and parts secured thereto being adapted to rise sufiiciently to raise the cylinder off its seat.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ROBERT ,FRIOK. 

